Asian swordfern vs Coastal Rocket Frog

Nephrolepis brownii compared with Allobates bromelicola

Key Differences

• Asian swordfern is Not Evaluated while Coastal Rocket Frog is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Asian swordfern	Coastal Rocket Frog
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Amphibia (Amphibians)
Order	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)	Anura (Frogs & Toads)
Family	Nephrolepidaceae	Aromobatidae
Genus	Nephrolepis	Allobates
Species	Nephrolepis brownii	Allobates bromelicola

Conservation Status

Asian swordfern

NE — Not Evaluated

Coastal Rocket Frog

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Asian swordfern	Coastal Rocket Frog
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Asian swordfern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Singapore, Taiwan), North America (4 countries), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

Coastal Rocket Frog

Habitat

Typically found in freshwater habitats, moist forests, and wetlands.

Range

Found in Venezuela. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Asian swordfern

The Asian swordfern (Nephrolepis brownii) is a species in the genus Nephrolepis. Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies. Widely distributed across Asia (Singapore, Taiwan), North America (4 countries), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

Coastal Rocket Frog

Coastal rocket frog (Allobates bromelicola) is a small terrestrial frog in the family Allophrynidae (formerly placed in Dendrobatidae), endemic to coastal lowland forests of Venezuela. Despite its placement near poison dart frogs, Allobates species are non-toxic. This species inhabits the humid leaf litter and bromeliads of coastal Venezuelan forests, where adults care for egg clutches and transport tadpoles to small water bodies including bromeliad phytotelmata. The genus Allobates is widespread across Amazonian and coastal South American forests, characterised by vocal males, ground-level activity, and close parental care. Coastal rocket frog is assessed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, primarily due to restricted range, habitat loss from deforestation for agriculture, livestock grazing, and urban expansion along Venezuela's coast. Climate change poses an additional threat through altered precipitation patterns affecting its bromeliad microhabitats. The species' specific association with bromeliads makes it particularly sensitive to vegetation structure loss. As with many narrowly endemic amphibians, ex-situ conservation programmes and improved habitat protection within its range are considered important management priorities.